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TELECOM UPDATE
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published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group
http://www.angustel.ca
Number 485: June 10, 2005
Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous
financial support from:
** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com
** AVAYA: www.avaya.ca/en/
** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca
** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca/
** ERICSSON: www.ericsson.ca
** MITEL NETWORKS: www.mitel.com/
** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca
** UTC CANADA: www.canada.utc.org/
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IN THIS ISSUE:
** Policy Review Asks 106 Questions
** Nortel President, CTO Resign
** Cogeco Enters Local Phone Business
** Some VoIP Providers Get 9-1-1 Extension
** RIM's Patent Settlement Stalls
** Consortium Wants 5-1-1 for Weather & Travel Info
** Bell Announces Global VoIP Trial
** Nortel Offers Unified Applications Platform
** Sierra Gives Up on Smartphone
** Building Access Rules Include Utelcos
** Rogers Extends Ultra-Lite to Newfoundland
** PIAC Wants Price Cap Amendments
** Telus and IEEE Sponsor Student Contest
** Bell Buys Western ERP Integrator
** Call Genie Names New CEO
** Allstream's Macdonald on Medical Leave
** CIRA Warns Against Password Fraud
** Orion Holds Research Summit
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POLICY REVIEW ASKS 106 QUESTIONS: The Telecom Policy Review
Committee's consultation paper, released on Monday, invites comments
on a broad range of issues in order "not to prejudge or prematurely
eliminate areas of interest and potential reform."
** "Canada has generally been well served by the policy and
regulatory framework that evolved over the last century,"
says the paper, but asks, "Should changes be made [to this
framework] to better equip Canada to reap future benefits
from developments in telecommunications and ICT as these
become more powerful enablers of our social and economic
lives?"
** 106 specific questions are organized in seven sections:
the changing telecom environment, the regulatory
framework, regulatory institutions, Canada's connectivity
agenda, making the most of technology, other issues, and
implementation.
** First-round submissions are due August 15; comments on
the submissions are to be made by September 15. The panel
hopes to make its recommendations before the end of 2005.
www.telecomreview.ca/epic/internet/intprp-gecrt.nsf/en/h_rx00015e.html
NORTEL PRESIDENT, CTO RESIGN: Newly recruited President and CTO Gary
Daichendt has resigned from Nortel Networks as a result of what CEO
Bill Owens terms "divergent management styles and ... business views."
CTO Gary Kunis, who previously worked with Daichendt in Cisco Systems
and joined Nortel following Daichendt's appointment, has also left the
company.
COGECO ENTERS LOCAL PHONE BUSINESS: On June 8, Cogeco Cable launched
digital telephone service in Burlington and Oakville, Ontario. The
company says it will extend service to most of the cities it serves by
December 2006.
** Service is $44.99 for customers who also take Cogeco High
Speed Internet and cable TV; $49.95 for those who take
only Internet.
** Included: unlimited Canada and U.S. long distance; voice
mail and four other features; 4-1-1, 6-1-1, and 9-1-1; and
eight-hour battery back up.
SOME VOIP PROVIDERS GET 9-1-1 EXTENSION: In response to applications
by Vonage, SaskTel, BananaTel, MTS Allstream, Primus, and Globility,
the CRTC has given these providers until August 17 to ensure that
their nomadic VoIP 9-1-1 calls are routed to the correct emergency
center. (See Telecom Update #482)
www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Letters/2005/lt050527.htm
RIM'S PATENT SETTLEMENT STALLS: Research In Motion says it has reached
an impasse in efforts to finalize its patent licensing agreement with
NTP Inc. and is taking court action to enforce the settlement. (See
Telecom Update #473) NTP says it will now ask for a court injunction
blocking BlackBerry sales in the U.S.
CONSORTIUM WANTS 5-1-1 FOR WEATHER & TRAVEL INFO: The Canada 511
Consortium, consisting of Environment Canada, Transport Canada,
Canadian Urban Transit Association, Transportation Association of
Canada, the Intelligent Transportation Systems Society of Canada, all
ten provincial governments, and the Yukon Territorial government, has
asked the CRTC to assign the 5-1-1 as a telephone number for the free
delivery of weather and travel information to the public.
www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2005/pt2005-5.htm
BELL ANNOUNCES GLOBAL VoIP TRIAL: Bell Canada has begun trials of
Global Voice over Internet Protocol, which provides flat-rate
intra-company international long distance service over a virtual
private IP network. International connectivity is from BT Infonet.
NORTEL OFFERS UNIFIED APPLICATIONS PLATFORM: Nortel Networks has
announced its new Applications Center, which provides a open standards
and SIP-based platform for contact center, speech recognition, unified
messaging, and multimedia collaboration tools. Also announced:
** New releases of Nortel's Contact Center Suite (formerly
Symposium), CallPilot Unified Messaging, and CS 1000
IP-PBX.
** IP Phone 2007, Nortel's first full colour screen phone.
** Nortel's new Multimedia Office Client, which provides
multimedia enhancement of Microsoft Office Outlook.
SIERRA GIVES UP ON SMARTPHONE: Sierra Wireless says it will sell or
shut down its Voq Professional Phone business in order to focus on its
core PC card business. Voq, a competitor of BlackBerry and Treo
smartphones, secured a $9.5 million federal government investment but
sold only an estimated 4,000 units. (See Telecom Update #403, 427)
BUILDING ACCESS RULES INCLUDE UTELCOS: In response to a 2003
application, the CRTC has extended the multi-dwelling unit access
agreement guidelines set in Telecom Decision 2003-45 to include
members of the Coalition of Hydro Telecom Service Providers. (See
Telecom Update #402)
www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/dt2005-33.htm
ROGERS EXTENDS ULTRA-LITE TO NEWFOUNDLAND: Rogers Cable has begun
offering its Hi-Speed Internet Ultra-Lite service in Newfoundland. The
service offers speeds of up to 128 Kbps download and 64 Kbps upload
for $19.95 per month.
PIAC WANTS PRICE CAP AMENDMENTS: Responding to the CRTC's proposal to
extend the current price cap regime for two years (see Telecom Update
#481), the Public Interest Advocacy Centre says that current consumer
price levels are too high, and has asked for an extended process to
review them. The CRTC has postponed the comment deadline to June 20,
but says its proposal "does not contemplate a detailed review of any
aspect" of the current regime.
www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8678/c12_200505729.htm#4a
TELUS AND IEEE SPONSOR STUDENT CONTEST: Telus and the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers have initiated an annual contest
for Information Computing and Telecommunications projects submitted by
undergraduate engineering or technology students. The IEEE Telus
Innovation Award features $20,000 in cash prizes.
www.ieee.ca/students/telus_award/index.htm
BELL BUYS WESTERN ERP INTEGRATOR: Bell Canada has acquired
Winnipeg-based CSB Systems, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
systems integrator that specializes in Microsoft mid- market ERP
software products Navision and Syspro. CSB will become part of the
recently-formed Bell Business Solutions organization.
CALL GENIE NAMES NEW CEO: Call Genie, a Calgary-based supplier of
voice directory technology, management, and support services, has
named Michael Durance, a VP of Toshiba's telecom division, as Chief
Executive Officer.
ALLSTREAM'S MACDONALD ON MEDICAL LEAVE: John McDonald, President of
MTS's Allstream division, began medical leave on June 10 for
undisclosed reasons. MTS announced that CEO Bill Fraser will be
overseeing Allstream until MacDonald returns.
CIRA WARNS AGAINST PASSWORD FRAUD: The Canadian Internet Registration
Authority warns against fake email messages purporting be from CIRA,
which ask dot-ca domain name holders for their CIRA user account
number or password. Do not share this information with anyone, CIRA
says.
ORION HOLDS RESEARCH SUMMIT: The Ontario Research and Innovation
Optical Network (ORION), which provides high bandwidth connectivity to
Ontario universities and research institutions, is holding its 2005
summit in Toronto June 13 and 14. Registration is open to the public,
at $295 for the two-day event.
www.orion.on.ca/events/ontariorandesummit.html
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E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca
FAX: 905-686-2655
MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE
Angus TeleManagement Group
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